“What the senator invited the president to do was to hear Senate
Republicans restate their maximalist position. We know what that
position is,” Carney said.

Update: Senate Republican Leader Mitch
McConnell is inviting President Barack Obama to the Capitol to
hear first-hand why his proposed tax increases will not pass, The
Associated Press is reporting.

According to a schedule released by the White House, Obama is set
to have lunch with Vice President Joe Biden today, before flying
to Philadelphia to speak at a DNC fundraiser this afternoon.

Original: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
(D-NV) announced Thursday morning that the Senate will remain in
session next week, canceling a planned vacation to work on a deal
to lower the deficit and raise the debt ceiling.

The decision comes one day after President Barack Obama publicly
chastised Congress for taking too many vacations instead of
negotiating an agreement to raise the $14.3 trillion debt limit
before the government defaults on August 2.

"They're in one week, they're out one week," Obama said during a
nationally televised press conference yesterday. "And then
they're saying, Obama has got to step in. You need to be here.
’ve been here. I’ve been doing Afghanistan and bin Laden
and the Greek crisis. You stay here. Let’s get it done."

Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner had a different
response for the President, saying he had been absent from
negotiations to reach a deficit reduction agreement to go along
with the debt ceiling hike.

"His administration has been burying our kids and grandkids in
new debt and offered no plan to rein in spending," Boehner said
yesterday. "The
President has been AWOL from that debate."

Democrats and Republicans are preparing for a contentious fight
over tax increases next month — Obama insists any deal to raise
the debt ceiling must include the elimination of tax breaks and
subsidies, while Republicans says they will not agree to any
revenue increases.